A Chatham County jury found Joseph Jackson guilty of aggravated assault. In his sole claim of error, Jackson contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion for a directed verdict of acquittal. After review, we find no error and affirm. On appeal, Jackson no longer enjoys a presumption of innocence, and the evidence must be viewed in a light most favorable to the jury’s verdict.1 So viewed, the evidence shows that between 11:42 p.m. and 11:48 p.m., Harris Odell, III was shot just outside his home in Savannah. While Odell was pulling his car into the garage, Javonni McKinney fired multiple shots at Odell at close range. Before Odell’s return home, Jackson and McKinney had been awaiting Odell’s return inside a stolen Buick station wagon that McKinney had obtained a few hours earlier. Less than an hour before the shooting, a friend of Odell’s uncle saw the Buick proceeding slowly down Odell’s narrow residential street, passing by his house on two occasions.
As Odell drove into his garage, McKinney ran into the garage and fired several shots. Although mortally wounded, Odell managed to back his car into the street where it struck the Buick on the driver’s side. The collision either disabled the Buick or caused McKinney and Jackson to abandon it. Odell’s girlfriend heard four or five shots followed by the squeal of tires, from the living room. She ran outside and saw that Odell was slumped backwards in his seat with blood dripping from his neck and that his car was in the street. At the time of the shooting, Jackson was behind the steering wheel of the Buick waiting for McKinney to return to the car. Odell’s neighbor heard several gunshots “fired in rapid succession.” From her window, the neighbor saw that the glass in the back window of Odell’s car had been shattered. She also saw a man leaning into the front passenger area of the Buick as though searching for something. As she watched, the man casually looked around as if to see if anyone was watching before walking calmly down the street and away from the crime scene. She described the man’s demeanor as “very calm” and testified that he did not appear upset. Although she could not identify Jackson in court as that man whom she had seen, her description of the man’s race, build, age, and height was consistent with Jackson’s physical appearance. Investigators found Jackson’s cellular telephone next to the Buick just below the passenger side door. They also found a receipt from a Burger King for a food and drink purchase made at 11:13 p.m., shortly before the victim was gunned down. A detective testified that “all shell casings were found inside the garage.” While executing a search warrant at Jackson’s home, police found a second receipt from Burger King on Jackson’s dresser in his bedroom. This receipt had the same order number as the receipt found in the Buick.
